Bale loader



May 16, 1950 F. w. FR|ED1H v BALE LOADER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 7, 1948 Ferdinand W. Friedrich y 1950 F. w. FRIEDRICH 2,507,627

BALE LOADER Filed May 7, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1950 F. w. FRIEDRICH 2,507,627

BALE LOADER Filed May 7, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 w. E Ferdinand W. Friedrich May 16, 1950 Filed May '7, 1948 F. W. FRIEDRICH BALE LOADER Fig 5 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor Ferdinand W. Friedrich and Attorneys ma ling ale a d dischar n er the platiorm ontothe hadoila truck. and cone- Patented May 16, 1950 UNITE o STATES PATENT oreicaa T i invention re t n a bale ead r m; has

vfor ts pr ma y ob c o e f i l ss blf ts a position above h ve f a ank, be am to discharge the bales onto the truck bed.

Another object is to provide a piece of equipment which may be attached to the side of a truck for advance, in unison therewith and to supply the driving power for the elevating conveyor by the advance of the loader with the truck.

The above and other objects may be attained employing this invention which embodies among its features an elongated frame, supporting skids at the forward end of the frame, an axle mounted in the frame adjacent its rear end to rotate about a horizontal axis which lies per,- pendicular to the, longitudinal axis ofthe frame, a standard rising from each side of; the frame adjacent the rear end thereof, a drive shaft mounted on the standards adjacent their upper ends to rotate about an axis which lies parallel to the axle, frame supporting wheels on opposite ends of the axle, at least one. of said wheels bein .fixed to the axle tocause the latter to rotate as the wheel is rotated, a pair of spaced drive sprockets fixed to the axle to rotate therewith, an idler sprocket mounted on the frame on each side of each drive sprocket to rotate about an axis which lies parallel with the axle.

spaced drive sprockets on the drive shaft aligning with the sprockets on the axle, an endless drive chain trained over each sprocket on the drive shaft. opnosite runs of each drive chain engagingthe underside of the idler sprockets on its respective side of the frame, the portions of; the cha ns w it xt n be ween h idler sp et running over the top of the sprockets 'on the vaxle on its respective side of the frame. an upwardlv and rearwardlv inclined chuteextending from the front end oi the frame to the upper ends of the standard. an elevator idler sprocket mounted adjacent the lower end of the chute-to rotate about axis which lies parallel with the axle, an elevator drive sprocket fixed to the drive shaft adjacent the upper end of the chute. an endless elevator chain trained over the elevator drive sprocket and the elevator idler sprockets, the upper run of said elevator cha n running along the upper side of the chute for elevating bales from the lower end of the c ute th uppe en h reof a bal ln" e .it'erm the u er ende t hum irom line" means for connectin the loader to one lea r 5. anilmove n 1.1

A s. o the rek. o Whisk h ba s are 21?: li ed rom the m-. I

F ar Us. a id i i Per ectiv Pf, a hal .loadeif em d in t e tur of t is one P n e it b side H sk Fi re .2 is a top lan ewthe tal e der illust ated i ral. a d sh w tal t9 MW}; a

3 .5 5 93 s a r t V ew o t e tru k and bale wander... E eii e s a ra men a Perspe e, Vi w o the re rd o th a aderrating the dr -Ye eha fer th se en h det il t F u e .5 is a vie sim a t i" the .99??- end of h driv ea ns ti n, with the el t ehai i ur 6: a a m ntar et na e l -.t .-a the ine i w ich th when earatq chai a d iv nd F u i a me tary d a ed eq ioaa view i lu rat n the ow r r ve fo he dr ve chains of the elevator.

Referring to the drawings in detail, an elonated. -.fram. ll om i es pa ed Paral e sid b r l2 Join ed at. th i reare ds 'b a t ans.- vers ly extendin cross ba i a d s ported nspa e i a a le relatio at h ir f rw end by opposite sides of a chute I6 which inclines upwardly. from the forward end of the frame to a: point above the rear end thereof. Attached to, the side bars In adjacent their forward, ends are, skids i8, and projectin forwardly from the forward ends of the side bars 12 are outwardly curved guides 29 which assist in guiding bales Onto the chute l 6. Pr jec ing upward y and-n ar.- wardly from opposite sides of the frame ill ad;- -iac n ,i s-rear ends are spa ed parallel s andards 2:2 carry n at. their upper end a su por in me 24. for a plat orm -26, Th t war and o th l i m 26 s ioin ed t t e: u per rear end of the chute l6 so that bales moving up the chut wi l b re e n t e .alat rm a Gu rails 2-8 are a ta h to stand rds it which pro.- rst upward r m the pla rm 2 and th guid r ls. 2. curve h y app oac e re an a the p at o m to re e bales et st 9E .rm to o lo arc te at .I' di e e to one de of h -l ad r- 111 t? t pl d i an r li b mann a W rli to ne id wreak. ven th 11 h bale d co-a s d r r a t s d. a a ti n steali it ilii 'fe e e fi r. be ween th t a an e a t etwak a vance th c e anon w th it.-

Mounted for rotation in suitable bearings 36 carried by the frame It adjacent its rear end is an axle 38 carrying at opposite ends ground contacting wheels 40 at least one of which is fixed to the axle so that as the wheel rotates, the axle 38 will be driven. Carried by the standards 22 at the junction of the upper end of the chute i6 and the platform 26 are suitable bearings 42 in which the drive shaft 44 of an elevator chain is mounted to rotate. This drive shaft has fixed thereto intermediate its ends, a drive sprocket 46 over which is trained an endless elevator chain 48. Adjacent the lower end of the chute I6 are suitable bearings 58 in which an idler shaft 52 is mounted to rotate. The shaft 52 extends parallel to the axle 38 and the drive shaft 44 and carries an idler sprocket 54 over which the elevator chain 48 is trained. The sprockets 46 and 54 are so arranged with relation to the chute 16 as to cause the upper run of the elevator chain 48 to ride on the upper face of the chute, and the elevator chain is provided at longitudinally spaced points with outwardly extending bale engaging teeth 56 which serve to engage the bales and cause them to move in unison with the elevator chain. Fixed to the elevator drive shaft 44 adjacent opposite ends thereof are driven sprockets 58 over which drive chains 68 are trained. And fixed to the axle 38 adjacent opposite side bars l2 of the frame ID are drive sprockets 62. An idler sprocket 64 is mounted in the frame ID on each side of each sprocket 62 to rotate about axes which lie parallel to the axle 38 and the drive chains to are so arranged that their rearmost runs engage the undersides of the sprockets 64 while the bottommost runs of the chains 68 engage the tops of the sprockets 62. It will thus be seen that as the axle 38 turns with the advance of the truck T in a forward direction, the drive shaft 44 will be driven in a reverse direction, thus causing the elevator chain 48 to move upwardly over the upper surface of the chute l6.

Mounted on the idler shaft 54 adjacent opposite sides of the frame are drive sprockets 66, and mounted on the underside of the chute l6 adjacent its lower end in spaced parallel relation to the idler shaft 52 is an idler shaft 68 supporting adjacent opposite ends idler sprockets l8. Auxiliary elevator chains 12 are trained over the sprockets 66 and 7D to aid in the initial starting of a bale up'the chute 16. Like the chain 48, the chains T2 are provided with outwardly extending bale engaging teeth 14.

Secured to opposite sides of the chute I6 at spaced intervals throughout its length are arched supporting members 16 carrying adjacent their upper ends spaced parallel guide boards 78 which extend throughout the entire length of the chute and serve to hold the bales in contact with the teeth 56 during their movement toward the platform 25.

In use the bale loader is coupled to the truck as illustrated in Figure 2 and the device advanced with the truck. As a bale is encountered the 'guides 20 will effectively guide it toward the lower end of the chute l6 and upon encountering the elevator chains 48 and 12, the bale will be moved upwardly along the chute beneath the guide boards 78. Arriving at the upper end of the chute, the bales are deposited on the platform, and as successive bales engage those onthe platform, they will be guided by the guide bars 28 to the side of the platform from which they are 'dropped onto the platform of the truck T. Ob-

viously as the wheels 40 rotate, the axle 38 will vator chain trained over be driven and hence the power transmitted there to will be transmitted by means of the chains 60 to the shaft 44 to drive the elevator chain 48.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the claimed as new is:

In a bale loader an elongated frame, supporting skids at the forward end of the frame, an axle mounted in the frame adjacent its rear end to rotate about a horizontal axis which lies perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame, a standard rising from each side of the frame adjacent the rear end thereof, a drive shaft mounted on the standards adjacent their upper ends to rotate about an axis which lies parallel to the axle, frame supporting wheels on opposite ends of the axle, at least one of said wheels being fixed to the axle to rotate therewith, a pair of spaced drive sprockets fixed to the axle to rotate therewith, an idler sprocket mounted on the frame on each side of each drive sprocket to rotate about an axis which lies parallel with the axle, spaced drive sprockets on the drive shaft aligning with the sprockets on the axle, an endless drive chain trained over each sprocket on the drive shaft, opposite runs of each drive chain engaging the undersides of the idler sprockets on its respective side of the frame, the portions of the chains which extend between the idler sprockets running over the top of the sprocket on the axle on its respective side of the frame, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined chute extending from the front end of the frame to the upper ends of the standards, an elevator idler sprocket mounted adjacent the lower end of the chute to rotate about an axis which lies parallel with the axle, an elevator drive sprocket fixed to the drive shaft, an endless elethe elevator drive sprocket and the elevator idler sprocket, the upper run of said elevator chain running along the upper side of the chute for elevating bales from the lower end of the chute to the upper end thereof, a bale receiving platform at the upper end of the chute, means for guiding a bale and discharging it laterally from the platform and coupling means for connecting the loader to one side of a vehicle upon which the bales are to be loaded, said coupling means being adapted to advance the loader in unison with the vehicle, outwardly and forwarding'extending bale guides projecting forwardly from opposite sides of the chute, an auxiliary bale elevating chain on each side of the first mentioned bale elevating chain adjacent the lowor end of the chute and means coupled to the first mentioned bale elevating chains for operating the auxiliary chains in unison therewith.

FERDINAND W. FRIEDRICH.

invention, what is I REFERENCES CITED The ioilowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,213,077 Collier Jan. 16, 1917 1,853,253 Bennett Apr. 12, 1932 2,397,570 Smoker Apr. 2, 1946 2,427,324 Farr et al Sept. 9, 1947 

